Home > Labour MPs record Band Aid-style Christmas single slamming ‘Scrooge’ bosses

Labour MPs record Band Aid-style Christmas single slamming ‘Scrooge’ bosses

Written by David Singleton on 14 December 2016 in Diary

Diary

Watch: Dan Jarvis, Mary Creagh and Angela Rayner were all involved in the charity singalong.

Around 20 Labour MPs have joined forces to record a Christmas single aimed at raising awareness of retailers who are ripping off their workers.

The singalong is nothing to do with Jeremy Corbyn or Labour HQ. Rather it has been organised by Mitcham and Morden MP Siobhain McDonagh who has been running a longstanding campaign on behalf of shop workers.

McDonough has previously attacked retailers including B&Q and Marks and Spencer for cutting workers' take-home pay to meet the increases to the Minimum Wage.

The new song is performed to the sound of the 1984 Band Aid classic ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas’, with the line:

"B&Q, Tesco and Waitrose / John Lewis, Caffe Nero and Eat / Be ashamed of how you treat your staff."

The chorus then urges these retailers to be more generous to their workers as we enter the festive season:

"Keep their perks / Don’t be Scrooge this Christmas time!"

Back in 1984 it was U2 frontman Bono who had the best line. But in the Labour 2016 version it is Cardiff West MP Kevin Brennan who gets the glory.

Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner said: "It’s about making sure that everyone gets a decent day’s pay for a decent day’s work. People need to be able to live when they’re in work, and there’s in-work poverty at the moment, so it’s crucial that companies cherish their staff and give them a decent living wage."

Fellow Labour MP Melanie Onn said: "I'm sure we sounded dreadful, I doubt the Santa hats and reindeer antlers helped, but I believe there is something called Autotune."

Writing for the Grimsby Telegraph[1], she added: "While I wouldn't sing solo, I did bash out the closing beats to Countdown on the drums, so hopefully my excellent drum skills will have a prominent role on the record and in this fun/highly embarrassing way of raising an important issue."